Journal

   “WiDS HIROSHIMA Ideathon 2022” was held on January 29th, 2022. Two teams from our school passed the qualifiers and gave an online presentation, with four finalists including us.

WiDS stands for WOMEN in DATA SCIENCE, and is an activity centred on Stanford University ICME in the U.S. with the aim of developing human resources who can play an active role in data science regardless of gender. The theme this time was to propose the next generation of boxed lunches that make use of data.

   Under the theme of a box that does not produce garbage, the “Squash” group proposed a lunch box made using vegetables, on the basis that half of all plastic waste is packaging such as for bento. 8 million tons of marine plastic waste are released every year, and 24% of vegetables grown are not actually distributed. In addition, they explained that in Japan, 1/7 of children are poor, so unsold produce should be delivered to them, and that used boxes could also be provided as raw materials and livestock feed. They also proposed a production cycle in which materials are reprocessed in turn with zero resulting waste. We missed our first win in two years, but we were runners-up as we were last year.

   Under the same theme, the “Rice Cake” group proposed lunch boxes made of rice cake, on the basis that 45% of all waste plastic is packaging, 80% of household waste is plastic, and 14% of this plastic is not recycled. Besides, they explained that the rice cake, i.e. the box, can even be eaten as an after-dinner dessert and wasabi can be used to prevent mold.

Both teams proposed boxes that, while not so healthy for people, are very eco-friendly. ■

Author’s Impression:

   The proposals from all teams were innovative and all presentations sounded so interesting that they made me excited. Though we missed the first prize, I have no regrets because I did my best.

It was difficult for us to collaborate to make presentations and make proposals based on accurate data, I think that it is an essential skill for when you become a university student or an adult in the future, so WiDS is good for us students.  208 Shogo KOIKE